FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), an organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology, brings its biggest-ever annual FIRST LEGO League (FLL) season to British Columbia with the 2007 Power Puzzle Challenge.

This year's Challenge calls for teams of 9 to 14 year-old children to research and present their own creative solutions to one of today’s most critical environmental issues: energy management and conservation.

With missions exploring solar panels on houses, hydro-dams, wind turbines and planting trees, teams will have to program their robots to find sustainable options to meet our planet’s growing energy needs in environmentally sound ways.

Eight weeks of research and design culminated in three FLL BC regional tournaments (Lower Mainland, Vancouver and Vancouver Island) where teams of children and mentors demonstrated their problem-solving skills, creative thinking, teamwork, competitive play, sportsmanship, and sense of community. Now the best teams from each of the regional tournaments will continue to exercise their technical creativity at the fun and exciting BC Provincial Championship Tournament at the BC Institute of Technology campus in Burnaby on Saturday January 12, 2008.

FIRST Lego League

FIRST collaborated with organizations including the Gulf Coast Combined Heat and Power Application Center, the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of South Carolina and the Second Hill Group, an independent consultant that specializes in issues including energy, environment and green design, to create a theme and Challenge missions that are reflective of today’s real-world issues.

The FLL competition is judged in four areas: project presentation; robot performance; technical design and programming of the robot; and teamwork. The highest honor will go to the team that best exemplifies the spirit and values of the program.

“The environment is a huge concern for everyone, including kids,” said Dean Kamen, FIRST founder. "Giving them a hands-on experience that allows them to use their imaginations and creativity in combination with science and technology to solve a real-world problem is empowering. It captures the true spirit of FIRST LEGO League and unleashes the creative problem-solving skills today’s kids need for building a better tomorrow."

FLL is an international program for 9 to 14 year-old children (10 to 16 outside the U.S. and Canada) created in a partnership between FIRST and The LEGO Group in 1998 based on their common belief that fun and learning go hand-in-hand, and that an inspired mind can accomplish anything. Each September, FIRST LEGO League announces the annual Challenge to teams, engaging them in authentic scientific research and hands-on robotics design. Using LEGO MINDSTORMS® technologies and LEGO play materials, children work alongside adult mentors to design, build, and program robots to complete missions based on real-world challenges. After eight intense weeks, the competition season culminates at high-energy, sports-like tournaments.

“FIRST LEGO League so brilliantly captures the natural curiosity and creativity of youth, and combines it with real-world issues and research and teamwork activities that put children in a position of identifying and creating innovative solutions to big problems,” said Jens Maibom, vice president, LEGO Group. “In this manner, FIRST LEGO League inspires children around the world to realize the power of their creative thinking skills in making a real difference, which naturally makes them feel good and motivates them to continue learning by doing.”

Currently in its tenth year, FIRST LEGO League anticipates its biggest season ever, with more than 10,000 teams in 38 countries competing in hundreds of qualifying events and Championship Tournaments. More than 100,000 students will compete to win honors and recognition. Teams will also have the opportunity to participate at the FIRST LEGO League World Festival, to be held in conjunction with the FIRST Championship, April 17-19, 2008 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.